PCA Community Service Internships

Pre-collegiate Academy Scholars are also placed in community service internships in Los Angeles public service agencies during their second summer in the program.

The internships help the Scholars gain a greater consciousness of their role in the community, to nurture their sense of responsibility to society, to promote self confidence, and to gain skills and abilities that can be applied to their future career goals. Scholars choose internships from a group of partner organizations that best fit their interests, goals, and schedules. Two Scholars are also selected to work as mentors for the Summer Residential Academic Program on the Berkeley campus.

Scholars are required to serve 100 hours, submit an essay on their community service internship experience, and report on their internships at a ten-day reunion on the Berkeley campus during their second summer, coinciding with the concluding days of the Summer Residential Academic Program. The reunion also serves to build community between the two cohorts of Scholars, while allowing the older Scholars to explore more of the wide cultural activities the Bay Area has to offer just before returning to Los Angeles for their senior year of high school. Once the community service requirements are fulfilled, the Scholars receive a $1,000 internship stipend designed to offset the income that would otherwise have been earned from a summer job.

The following organizations are our current program partners:

• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
• Boys and Girls Clubs of America
• Central American Resource Center (CARECEN)
• United Way
• USC Medical Center
• Inner City Struggle
• Community Coalition
• Youth Workforce Development Center
• Los Angeles Public Library
• Mexican American Legal and Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)